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The Unicode Consortium proposes reversible emojis that can change directions

The Unicode Consortium has come up with a new draft guideline that when approved will make emojis reversible. Put in other words, users will be able to change the direction the emoji is facing, thereby making it look and feel a bit different.
Users too are likely to rejoice at the prospect of having the power to change the orientation of the emoji, thereby adding some more life to their chats and other interactions. So if the emoji is facing to the right, it can be made to face left and vice versa.
However, no matter how exciting it might seem at the moment, the reversible emojis aren?t expected to be available before fall 2018. The Unicode Consortium is also expected to launch about a hundred new emojis by that time and if vendors such as Apple and others give their nod to the concept of reversible emojis, those will debut as the first lot of emojis having the reversible attribute.
Among the new emojis slated for launch include a swan, pirate flag, badger, infinity, to name just a few. Then there are some new faces as well, one that has red hair, or another with curly hairs while there is also one with no hair at all. There is yet another sporting afro hairstyle along with those with hot and cold faces.
Among the other new emoji in line for launch include a fire extinguisher, firecracker, a bagel, a softball, a lacrosse stick and even a test tube as well.
However, while the option to reverse the direction of the emoji will always be a welcome one, it still can?t be considered as revolutionary as animojis Apple introduced with its iPhone X device. What makes animoji almost a generation ahead of the all including reversible emoji is that those can be made to take up any emotion as the user desires.

With animoji, the user can end up making the same emoji look different each time as those can be made to carry a different behavior of the sender. And it is this that makes the animoji so special. In contrast, reversible emoji, if approved, will only enable the user to change the direction the emoji is facing.

Apple emojis are set to become reversible, letting users swap their direction, according to a beta list of next year?s proposed icons.
Unicode, the organisation that controls them, has revealed a number of new additions to the emoji set due to appear in 2018.

The list also includes redheads, bald people, curly hair, superheroes, a bagel, a lacrosse stick and many more.

Emoji 11.0, previously referred to as Emoji 6, has been a work in progress over the course of 2017.
Fans have stepped forward to suggest their own ideas for what should be included in the final release, due in the second half of 2018.
Other emoji candidates featured in the announcement were a softball, cupcake, kangaroo, teddy bear, mango, party face, skateboard, a spool of thread, swan, badger, infinity symbol and apirate flag.
With the reversible function, users would finally be able to have the train, runner, or the gun emoji face left or right.
Writing in the draft document, a Unicode spokesman said: ?Emoji with glyphs that face to the right or left may face either direction, according to vendor preference.
?However, that can cause a definite change in meaning when exchanging text across platforms.
?The following ZWJ mechanism can be used to pick an explicit direction.?
Apple angered a lot of redheads with its newest iOS update.
On October 31, the company released iOS 11.1, which, in addition to some bug fixes, added 70 new emojis.
But while some customers were thrilled to finally get the broccoli or giraffe emojis they?ve been desperately waiting for, many were upset about the emojis that were not included.
At the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) meeting, held at Apple In November, Jeremy Burge, the Editor in Chief of Emojipedia, said: ?The most common feedback to Emojipedia since Apple released iOS 11.1 has been ?but what about the red heads?.
?Don?t worry redheads: your feedback has been heard!?
The Apple update, which is now available for download on iPhones, has many of the new emojis from the Unicode Consortium?s release earlier this year.
There?s are more people and faces, including a breastfeeding woman, an exploding head smiley face, a vomiting face, a shushing face, and a person doing yoga, as well as new flags and articles of clothing like a scarf and baseball cap.
New animals include hedgehogs, giraffes, crickets, and dinosaurs, while additional food includes apple pie, dumplings, broccoli, and a takeout box.
New emojis are agreed upon at the Unicode Consortium, and more are sure to be added in the future.
Some requests for 2018 seem more popular than others, like customers who want to see cupcakes, softball players, and chicken nuggets in their emoji keyboards.

For the Apple set, users will need iOS 11.1 or later to both send and receive the new characters.
Without it, they won?t find them in the keyboard and will only receive generic blocks and broken up emoji in place of the new characters.

Android 8.0 was released by Google on August 2, calling it Oreo. But if there's one problem Android phones have always had, it's with getting updates. Users want the newest version of Android software on their phones, but not many have it just yet. But after more than a quarter since its launch, some companies have indeed announced a roadmap for their devices.
Here are the smartphones that you can expect Android Oreo on.

Google

Starting off with Google, the Android-maker has revealed that it will be updating the Pixel phones, the Nexus 6P, Nexus 5X and the Nexus Player to Android 8.0 Oreo. For the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P, Oreo may be the last major update, though it is possible that Google may try to leverage Project Treble and continue delivering major updates to these devices.

Pixel

Pixel XL

Nexus 5X

Nexus 6P

Nexus 6

Samsung

Samsung has a huge number of devices on the market at any given point of time. The Korean giant releases several devices every few months, so it can be pretty difficult to keep a track of which devices are likely to get the official Oreo update.
The company has never been the best at providing updates, but its flagship phones are usually updated. Here's what we know about Samsung phones to get Oreo.

Galaxy S8

Galaxy S8+

Galaxy Note 8

Galaxy S7

Galaxy S7 Edge

Galaxy Note 7 Fan Edition

Galaxy A7 2017

Galaxy A5 2017

Galaxy A3 2017

Galaxy J7 2017

Galaxy J7 Max

Galaxy J5 2017

Galaxy Tab S3

Galaxy C9 Pro

Galaxy C7 Pro

HTC

HTC has been promising to release major Android OS updates faster than usual. The company has confirmed that the HTC U11 will receive the Oreo update, but there's no confirmation on any of its other phones yet. Below is a list of devices that are most likely to be updated to the latest version of Android.

HTC U11

HTC U Ultra

HTC U Play

HTC 10

OnePlus

OnePlus does not have too many devices to worry about. The company has already confirmed that the OnePlus 5T, OnePlus 5, OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T, will be updated to Android 8.0 Oreo. In fact, OnePlus 3 and 3T users have already received the update, while it has been temporarily put on hold for the OnePlus 5. An open beta for Android Oreo is also available for the OnePlus 5T.

OnePlus 5

OnePlus 5T

OnePlus 3T

OnePlus 3

Motorola

Motorola?s smartphone portfolio has expanded drastically in the last year or so. The company has smartphones in the high-end, mid-range, budget segment as well as the entry level segment. Even though Motorola uses stock Android on its phones, it may take a while for the update to hit your device.

Moto Z2 Play

Moto Z Play

Moto Z Force

Moto Z

Moto G5S

Moto G5S Plus

Moto G4 Plus

Moto G5 Plus

Moto G5

Nokia

HMD Global had earlier confirmed that the Nokia 8 would be updated to Oreo quickly. Additionally, the company has also promised that all its smartphones will get a minimum of 2 years of OS update support. In light of this, all existing Nokia Android smartphones are expected to be updated to Oreo. HMD Global is also rumoured to be working on a Android Oreo (Go Edition) smartphone called the Nokia 1.

Nokia 8

Nokia 6

Nokia 5

Nokia 3

Xiaomi

Xiaomi's Mi and Redmi lineups may be extremely popular in the country, but the company has a poor track record with updates. While the company provides MIUI updates long periods, they don?t always come with an updated version of Android.
The rule of thumb, of sorts, when it comes to Xiaomi?s phones is that the Redmi series always gets only one Android OS update, regardless of the MIUI version. The Mi series, on the other hand, gets OS updates for a much longer period. The Mi3, for example, was launched with Android 4.3 Jelly Bean and was updated till Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
The said, the Android One powered Mi A1 has the distinguished honour of being the first budget smartphone to run on Android Oreo.

Mi Max 2

Mi Mix 2

Redmi 5A

Mi A1

Redmi Note 4

Redmi 4

Mi 6

Redmi Y1

LG

The most recent LG smartphones like the V30+, G6 and Q6 are very likely to be upgraded to Oreo. The LG G6 is expected to get the Oreo update from February 2018 onwards.
It's unclear whether last year's flagships, the G5, V20, will get the update, but they should.

V30

G6

V20

Q6

Asus

Asus has already confirmed that it will be updating the entire Zenfone 4 and Zenfone 3 lineup to Android 8.0 Oreo by the second half of 2018. One would expect the company to start with its most expensive devices and move on to the budget offerings.

ZenFone 4

ZenFone 4 Max

ZenFone 4 Max Pro

ZenFone 4 Selfie

ZenFone 4 Selfie Pro

ZenFone 4 Pro

Zenfone Go (ZB552KL)

Zenfone Live (ZB501KL)

Zenfone 3 Zoom

Zenfone 3 Max

Zenfone 3 Deluxe 5.5

Zenfone 3

Sony

While Sony hasn't confirmed updates officially, the following are the devices that are expected to get the latest version of Android. The company is also responsible for the first non-Pixel Android Oreo smartphone in the world with the Xperia XZ1.

Xperia XZ Premium

Xperia XZ

Xperia XA1

Xperia X

Xperia X Compact

Xperia XA1 Ultra

Xperia XZS

Xperia X Performance

Xperia XA1 Plus

Oppo

Like Vivo, Oppo too hasn?t been particularly fast when it comes to pushing out Android updates. That said, users of the following Oppo phones can expect to get the Oreo update.

F3 Plus

R11

R11 Plus

Huawei

Huawei has reportedly started testing the Android 8.0 Oreo update on its devices ? specifically, the Mate 9. The company needs to get its act together with Android updates and we expect more phones to be updated this year.

Honor 8 Pro

P10

P10 Lite

Honor 8

Honor 6X

Honor 7X

Honor 9i

P8 Lite

Smartron

Smartron has announced that the Srt.phone, its latest smartphone, will get the Oreo update. There are reports that suggest that the t.phone will also be updated to Oreo, but it has not been officially confirmed yet.

The Galaxy On7 Prime is a mid-ranger that comes with a 5.5-inch Full HD display and the Exynos 7870 chipset. It’s available with 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of storage or 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of storage.

The device is equipped with 13 MP rear and front cameras with f/1.9 aperture, sports a metal body, and has a microSD card slot on board. It also supports Samsung Pay Mini. Other details, including the Android version and battery size, are currently unknown.

The release date and price are also a mystery for now. However, we expect the Galaxy On7 Prime to go on sale soon, as you can already sign up on Amazon’s website to get notified when it becomes available.

After a bunch of leaks and rumours, HMD Global has now formally announced the Nokia 6 (201 as its first smartphone of the new year. The new Nokia smartphone is the successor to the last year's Nokia 6 and is debuting in China. Details about its global rollout are yet to emerge. However, the smartphone is quite likely to go on sale in India following the initial availability in the Chinese market. China's Suning has started taking pre-orders for the Nokia 6 (201, and its sale will begin starting January 10. The 32GB Nokia 6 (201 variant will be available with a price tag of CNY 1,499 (roughly Rs. 14,600), whereas its 64GB variant will come at CNY 1,699 (approximately Rs. 16,600). Both the variants will come in Black and Silver colour options.

Nokia 6 (201 specifications, featuresUnlike the original Nokia 6 model that was launched back in January last year with a front-facing fingerprint scanner, the Nokia 6 (201 features a fingerprint scanner on the back. The new smartphone has also dropped the capacitive keys that were available on alongside the frontal fingerprint scanner on the previous Nokia handset. The Finnish manufacturer has apparently chosen on-screen navigation to make the interface of the new Nokia 6 closer to stock Android UI. The decision is conspicuous as it has maintained a 16:9 display aspect ratio, and not used a 18:9 aspect ratio that was the primary cause of other manufacturers ditching front fingerprint scanners and hardware capacitive buttons. Further, the Nokia 6 (201 has a metal unibody build that is made of 6000 series aluminium.

The dual-SIM (Nano) Nokia 6 (201 runs Android 7.1.1 Nougat out of the box. The handset is also expected to receive an update to Android 8.0 Oreo sometime in the future. But the company hasn't so far provided any official details on the latest Android update. On the display part, the Nokia 6 (201 features a 5.5-inch IPS display with a full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) resolution and 16:9 aspect ratio. The smartphone is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 630 SoC, which is clocked at 2.2GHz, coupled with 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM. Also, the internal storage of the new Nokia 6 is upgradable via microSD card slot (up to 128GB) in a hybrid dual-SIM configuration.HMD Global has provided a 16-megapixel rear camera sensor on the Nokia 6 (201 with dual-tone LED flash and PDAF lens that has f/2.0 aperture. Similarly, an 8-megapixel camera is available on the front with an f/2.0, 84-degree wide-angle lens. The smartphone also supports the company's proprietary Dual-Sight technology that allows you to capture simultaneous shots from the rear and front camera sensors to create a Bothie. In terms of connectivity, the smartphone has FM radio, 4G VoLTE, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth v5, GPS/ A-GPS, USB Type-C, and 3.5mm audio jack.